The present invention relates to a leaf spring attachment to secure a leaf spring to an axle or frame of a motor vehicle.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Leaf springs made of composite material such as glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) or carbon reinforced plastic (CRP), or of steel are normally installed to the rear axles of a motor vehicle by a forced engagement so as to maintain the leaf spring under tension via tensioning clips, so called spring clips, on a clamp assembly which is normally connected to the axle tube by a material joint. Conventional leaf springs are subject to great surface pressure because the screwed connections that connect the leaf spring to the axle or the frame of the vehicle become loose as the system settles and thus must be compensated. On the other hand, the surface contact should be sufficiently high to prevent a dislocation of the leaf spring. Another drawback is the relative long length of screw bolts or tensioning clamps because of their additional use to press the clamp assembly against the leaf spring.
Proposals to drill holes in the leaf spring in order to fix the position of the leaf spring relative to the clamp assembly also suffer shortcomings because this approach leads to an unwanted weakening in the cross section of the leaf spring.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved leaf spring attachment which obviates prior art shortcomings and which is easy to manufacture and lightweight while still being reliable in operation.